Tokyo Hotel Uses Abandoned Suitcases as Vegetable Planters

Tokyo, Sept. 24 (Jiji Press)--A hotel in Tokyo uses suitcases left behind by guests as planters for vegetables and herbs in its rooftop garden.

In 2022, Hotel Niwa Tokyo in Chiyoda Ward started a project titled eco-Niwa, which promotes the recycling of hotel waste through leaf mold production and rooftop gardening.

Initially, hemp bags that had been used for coffee beans were repurposed as planters in the rooftop garden.

Since hemp bags lacked durability and soil spilled out of them, however, the hotel came up with an idea of utilizing abandoned suitcases.

According to the hotel's general manager, Kazuya Okawa, about 10 suitcases are left behind each month, and about 90 pct of its guests are foreign visitors.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]